Ignorance is Bliss

By: _THELeiacorn_

Rating: PG-13

Word Count: 707

Pairing: Ryeowook/Yesung, ft. Kyuhyun (basically K.R.Y.)

Warnings: character death, tiny bit of blood/mention of car accident

Note: I'm not a surgeon nor a doctor (yet, lol) so descriptions may be off. Also, Dr. Kim is Ryeowook and Dr. Cho is Kyuhyun. Jongwoon is Yesung's real name.

The medical intern screams at the sight of the mangled patient draped over the pure white sheets. Ryeowook brusquely propels him away towards the supplies, biting back a furious urge to scold him.

Where is Jongwoon? He wonders, a warm, familiar fluttering in his stomach dispelling away the previous annoyance. Jongwoon would never scream; he’s so much better trained than this intern…and Jongwoon always arrived early to chat with Ryeowook (so sweet of him to do so)…yet today was an obvious exception.

A steel scalpel and clean white cloth are pressed into his hands by the medical intern.

Young students’ experience these days gets worse and worse, he thinks disdainfully, the replacement of Jongwoon for the day still shuddering with nausea, a hand pressed over his mouth. Ryeowook shakes his head to dismiss the intern, and he gratefully mouths “thank you, Dr. Kim” while half-bowing and backing out the door.

Ryeowook gets to work on the patient, astounded at how badly this car accident has disfigured him. The oxygen mask barely fits over his shattered cheekbones. Ryeowook has trouble slipping the IV over the patient’s crooked arms and small hands. For a moment he reminisces about how cute Jongwoon’s tiny hands are—small but skilled— and then he plugs the heart and brain monitor up, his own heart falling at how low the waves are.

Ryeowook doesn’t think the patient has much time left, yet his dexterous fingers cut, slice, and stitch to the best of his ability. Maybe if he works fast enough, he’ll be able to fix him…

Pushing the patient’s sleek, blood-coated dark hair gently over his forehead, he finds himself nearly pinching the soft, plump apples of his cheeks, forgetting that he only does that to Jongwoon. Ryeowook shakes his head, mentally berating himself for the millionth time for crushing on his intern-in-training. Jongwoon’s moving out of Seoul as soon as he gets his license— Ryeowook’ll be very sorry at the end of the year to see him go.

The sudden slowing beep of the heart monitor causes his stomach to drop. Ryeowook’s lips press together as he places his scalpel down; this is only the third patient he’s unable to save. He composes himself—he’s learned early on that tears are wasted and that everyone’s time has to come, whether he can stop it or not.

Sighing, he rings up Dr. Cho— the one who sent the patient to him— to get an idea of who his patient is. Ryeowook tidies up the sheets around the patient, hoping that he eased his patient’s suffering. A faint outline of his slim, compact legs reminds Ryeowook how he likes his men—short and slender, just like himself. Despite himself, he inhales sharply, on the verge of tearing up.

The door behind him creaks open. Ryeowook turns, half-hoping to see Jongwoon—but it’s Dr. Cho. Ryeowook gestures half-heartedly, indicating that the patient has passed. Dr. Cho’s long white doctor’s coat swishes over his long, defined legs as he quickly strides over, eyes flashing and stethoscope bouncing. 

“We sent him specifically to you because we thought you’d be the only one who could save him!”

Dr. Cho’s harsh, boorish manner shocks Ryeowook, and the tears which he’d been fighting back suddenly fill his eyes again. It’s not his fault the patient’s car accident practically destroyed him!

“I rang you up because I want to know who he is,” Ryeowook uncertainly tries to get Dr. Cho onto a plane of conversation which he can understand.

Dr. Cho stares at him disbelievingly. “How—what? How do you not know?! That’s your intern!”

“Wh-what?” Ryeowook doesn’t understand, he clutches the edge of the hospital bed, vision blurring and head suddenly swirling dizzily. “I-I sent my intern out, he was too queasy—”

“No, the intern originally assigned to you! Kim Jongwoon!”

A half-strangled gasp escapes his throat, and Ryeowook doesn’t care that Dr. Cho figured out what he felt for Jongwoon as he rips back the white sheets he so carefully placed moments before over Jongwoon’s still body. Sobbing hysterically, he presses his lips to Jongwoon’s recently living, breathing flesh.

There’s a shrill, high-pitched keen—is that him?— and the sound of Dr. Cho’s frantic calls of "Dr. Kim! Dr. Kim, are you okay?",…then silence consumes him. 

Foreword

_THELeiacorn_